For Michael Richardson and Chansi Stuckey, the road to the NFL hasn't been easy.
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Richardson, a former wing back at Warner Robins...drafted Sunday in the later rounds by New England...Richardson had success on the field and off at Notre Dame. As a cornerback, he had 115 tackles - 85 solo - in his four-year college career...That success did not surprise his former Demon coach, Richard Fendley.

"He was highly recruited by the academic schools but not local schools like Georgia and Georgia Tech," Fendley said. "He's a good all-around player."

At Warner Robins, Richardson was used as mostly a wing back blocking for Willie Reid, who was drafted last year by Pittsburgh. Richardson rushed for a career 1,866 yards and scored 23 touchdowns. He was a standout in track and graduated with a 3.9 GPA.
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Willingham moved Richardson to the cornerback position,a spot the Notre Dame coach desperately needed to fill. It stuck as Richardson played that position ever year.

"Notre Dame's scheme fit into Mike's skills," Fendley said. "They played a lot of man with the defensive backs chasing receivers all over the place. I know the defensive backs got blamed for a lot of the defense's problems this season but they weren't getting any pressure up front."

...Willingham was fired and New England offensive coordinator Charlie Weis was brought on...It took a while for Richardson to get adjusted to his new coach's style but his efforts obviously got the attention of NFL scouts.

"I know that Charlie came from the same organization," Richardson said in a conference call Sunday. "I really enjoyed my time here with Coach Weis."

Quarterback Matt Gutierrez is headed to New England...
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Gutierrez will join Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady, who also played college football at Michigan. Currently Matt Cassel backs up Brady with the Patriots, but they have no other quarterbacks on the roster. During his one season with Idaho State, the 6-foo-4, 231-pound Gutierrez threw for 2,237 yards and 16 touchdowns.
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Patriots mini-camp starts May 11...

So if this Great Receiver Experiment doesn't work out -- if Moss flashes a moon in Miami or chop-blocks another crossing guard with his car -- the Pats will have two No. 1s with which to address the problem. This is what's known as a Plan B, and it's why New England is where it is ... and other clubs are where they are. We won't mention any names.

You can argue about which NFL team came away with the best draft, but there's no question who had the best offseason. The New England Patriots lapped the field.
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The Patriots made two key free-agent additions to their defense: Pro Bowl linebacker Adalius Thomas, signed from the Ravens, and cornerback Tory James.

In the draft they brought in a couple of Miami Hurricane defenders with an attitude: safety Brandon Meriweather and tackle Kareem Brown. Linebacker Oscar Lua from Southern Cal might have been a seventh-round steal.

Plus, by wheeling and dealing, the Patriots also wound up with an extra first-round pick for 2008.

Clint Oldenburg of Gillette got a call from New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick last weekend letting him know he was about to be drafted. From there, it played out on TV.Oldenburg is a 6-foot-5, 296-pound offensive tackle who played at Campbell County High School and Colorado State.Oldenburg says he was so happy to get the call, and then was just trying to see his name on T-V.Oldenburg was the first of two Wyoming natives picked in the NFL's weekend draft. Oldenburg went in the fifth round, when the Patriots took him with the 171st pick.

Lua The (NFL) Linebacker: Oscar Lua deserves a mention here as well. After backing up a Trojan star for his senior year, the New England Patriots thought they might have the same success with him that they enjoyed with Matt Cassel. Luaâs knees will always be a concern, but he has rehabbed nicely this offseason and was in very good shape for his workouts. He may not be the next Teddy Bruschi for the Patriots, but he should fit in very nicely with the mindset of that organization and could see some playing time down the road.
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Dallas Sartz and Oscar Lua will no doubt have to earn some time on special teams before getting a shot on defense, but both players have extensive experience there from their time at USC and should have no trouble adjusting accordingly.

I was initially surprised that Brandon Meriweather was the first University of Miami player picked over the weekend in the NFL Draft, but I shouldnât have been.
Meriweather certainly had the best career of the three Hurricanes...that were picked in the first round.

Even last season when Meriweather was slowed by various issues and nagging injuries, he turned in a solid season. Donât forget that Meriweather virtually shut down Georgia Techâs Calvin Johnson...
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Seems to me that cornerback will be Meriweatherâs position in the pros, although Boston-area writers marked Meriweather as the heir-apparent to hard-hitting veteran Rodney Harrison at safety.

But at 5-foot-11 and 195 pounds, I donât believe Meriweather will be able to dish out that kind of punishment. Yes, Meriweather is a tough guy and a hard hitter, but he took a beating in college...
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One hopes that Meriweather â as he insists â has learned his lesson. I dealt with Meriweather for four years and never thought of him as a troublemaker.
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The Patriots drafted Meriweather and defensive tackle Kareem Brown (4th round), marking the first time in team history that New England used its first two picks to select players from the same school. Thatâs no surprise considering Patriotsâ coach Bill Belichick spends more time on UMâs campus than Donna Shalala.

What I suspect is happening is the Pats are inviting some guys to Rookie Camp for tryouts. In the past that usually meant enough players to walk through the basic offensive and defensive playbook and could include players from previous years who hadn't caught on. Some have come away from that with UDFA contracts, the RB from Marshall who was allocated to Europe and never played after injury started that way before being brought to the Practice Squad in the Fall.

The powers that be in the NFL love to trumpet the idea of parity.
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The instrument of this parity is the NFL draft...the worst teams get the earliest picks and the best teams pick later. Thus the worst teams presumably get the better players to eventually improve and maintain parity. This anti-Darwinian, survival of the weakest concept has effectively maintained parity in the NFL since its inception... several forces...have cropped up...to challenge one of the great cornerstones of the NFL.
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First is free agency. Basically any team with the money can buy any player...Because the NFL strives for parity, allowing essentially free player movement could potentially skew the competitive balance toward certain teams.
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Money is the other factor which the NFL uses to limit player movement, in the form of the salary cap...The downside is the âsalary cap hellâ...Dan Snyder...luckily for the rest of the league, he and his staffs are not very good judges of talent.
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There has been a trend brewing in the NFL for the past few years. Namely, established superstars, on the downside of their careers, giving up more money elsewhere or even coming out of retirement to play for a consistent winner in order to win a championship before they retire...usually the Patriots.
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Iâm not sure what Iâd be thinking if I were Tom Brady...defenses around the league may decide they cannot possibly cover all the Patriots receivers, so may just decide to kill Brady on every play. In addition, this team which was already favored to win the Super Bowl will now not only have to win it, but probably have to go 16-0 with scores of 42-10 every week, or their season will be considered a failure.
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...for at least this one season, the NFL will be more parody than parity.

Mike Cassano says the Patriots had a fine draft, and he should know. New England's top two picks were from the University of Miami, where the Central Catholic Hall of Famer coached the past three years.

Cassano said first-round pick Brandon Meriweather's involvement in the Hurricanes' brawl against Florida International isn't a true reflection of what type of person he is.

Cassano said, "That's not what he's about. He's a great kid who is a hard worker. He'll be a good player for them. He's a student of the game. He used to follow (All-American defensive back) Ed Reed around like a puppy dog. He's not the biggest guy, but he brings a powerful punch. He'll work his way on the field in a hurry."

Here's what he had to say about fourth round pick Kareem Brown, a defensive lineman:

"He's a big, athletic guy. He has such great feet. There aren't a lot of guys his size who move like he does. He's not Vince (Wilfork, the Patriots nose tackle who preceded him at Miami), but there are only a few of those on the planet. Maybe his best football is in front of him. Some guys bloom a little later. He definitely has the ability and talent and size. He just has to put it all together."

Gutierrez is a winner, and a guy with great leadership and intangibles out of the Tom Brady mold. Coming out of HS, he was an Elite 11 QB, and an absolute stud. He never lost a game starting, and was penciled in as Michigan's starter until he got hurt on the eve of the 2004 season opener.

He never had the same arm after his shoulder surgery, but is still a very good character guy, and a guy everyone liked and looked up to. Even as a backup to Henne for 2 years, he was a team leader. If he can rehab that arm back, he can be a good pickup for the Pats. He probably would've been an early 2nd round pick had he gotten to play out his career in D-IA.Very smart and poised. The big question is that arm.

The must read! (It's been said elsewhere, but there's a touch of humor here, shockingly, it comes from a Doofin living with a Jest.)
[irl]http://www.thehoya.com/sports/050107/sports10.cfm[/url]

I wanted to log on to the internet and discover some late-round gems who I could root for the Miami Dolphins to select.

But when I opened my browser to ESPN.com, the comforting coif of Mel Kiper, Jr. was not there to greet me. Instead, the headline informed me that the New England Patriots had acquired Randy Moss for a fourth-round pick in this yearâs draft. I might as well have been handed a death sentence.

I relayed the grim news to my roommate â a New York Jets fan â and his response was characteristically gloomy. âWhy do we even bother to play the season?â he lamented. âWe should just hand the Patriots the trophy.â

Gutierrez is a winner, and a guy with great leadership and intangibles out of the Tom Brady mold. Coming out of HS, he was an Elite 11 QB, and an absolute stud. He never lost a game starting, and was penciled in as Michigan's starter until he got hurt on the eve of the 2004 season opener.

He never had the same arm after his shoulder surgery, but is still a very good character guy, and a guy everyone liked and looked up to. Even as a backup to Henne for 2 years, he was a team leader. If he can rehab that arm back, he can be a good pickup for the Pats. He probably would've been an early 2nd round pick had he gotten to play out his career in D-IA.Very smart and poised. The big question is that arm.

Click to expand...

A Delasalle (sp?) grad who never lost a HS game isn't exactly a rarity, but I'm glad to read he just needs to rebuild the arm and be another perennial "probable" on the injury report.

Maroney will take over as the main running back this year, after the departure of Corey Dillon. He says he's learned what it takes to be the main guy. "Basically just to work hard. To go out there give it everything you got, everyday. Try to get better. In this business, everyone is always looking to be replaced so as long as you watch your ps and qs, no one can say anything bad about you."